Veterans and the fight against ALS

The 2012 presidential campaign is in full swing. We read about it in this newspaper every day. Herman Cain, Rick Perry, Mitt Romney and, of course, President Obama. They all are fighting for their political lives. But with Veterans Day approaching on Friday, what the American public needs to hear about is the campaign our nation's veterans are waging against Lou Gehrig's disease, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

Yes, the disease that took the life of baseball legend Lou Gehrig is striking our military veterans at an alarming rate. In fact, studies show that vets are twice as likely to die from ALS as the public. And it doesn't matter when or where they served in the military -- home or abroad, peace or war, from World War I to Afghanistan. There is no treatment. No cure. Only death in an average of two to five years.

We don't know why vets are more likely to develop ALS. But we do know that greater awareness of this campaign will help in the fight to find the cause, treatment and cure for this horrible disease. On Veterans Day, I hope this newspaper honors these American heroes and tells their story, which largely has been ignored by the media.

I urge your readers to visit the Wall of Honor at www.alsa.org. There they will see the faces and read the stories of the veterans who are fighting ALS and those we already have lost to the disease. There they will see the campaign that has not been written about by the press. They will see the stories of people not simply engaged in a political fight but in a fight for their lives.

Maureen Barber-Hill is the president and CEO of the ALS Association, St. Louis chapter.